3 Canadians isolating at home after hantavirus ship outbreak, government says

TORONTO — Three people with connections to a deadly hantavirus-stricken cruise are isolating at home in Ontario and Quebec, the federal government said Thursday, while consular officials are heading to the Canary Islands to wait for four Canadians who are still on board.

Two Canadians disembarked the ship on the remote South Atlantic island of St. Helena almost two weeks ago and were on the same returning flight as a third Canadian who was not on the vessel.

Anita Anand, the foreign affairs minister, said the third Canadian “may have come into contact with a symptomatic individual” and is among those being monitored by local authorities.

Federal officials have not yet responded to questions from The Canadian Press on when and where affected people arrived in Canada, or whether public-health officials would brief media.

In a statement posted online, Anand said all three Canadians are asymptomatic and have been self-isolating. Two individuals are in Ontario and one is in Quebec.

The World Health Organization said Thursday it has received reports of eight cases, including three deaths, in connection to the MV Hondius outbreak of the rodent-borne Andes virus, the only hantavirus known to be capable of limited transmission between humans.

“Given the incubation period of the Andes virus, which can be up to six weeks, it’s possible that more cases may be reported,” WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.

Anand said in her statement that Ottawa has been in touch with four Canadians who are among those still on the cruise, while consular officials are on their way to the Canary Islands to monitor the situation. The boat is anticipated to disembark in Granadilla, Tenerife on Sunday morning, but the cruise operator says that may change.

About 150 remaining passengers are isolating in their cabins and none are showing symptoms, according to Dutch-based Oceanwide Expeditions.

Anand and Health Minister Marjorie Michel would not take questions from reporters after a statement in Ottawa, but said a team is working across departments and that public-health protocols will be followed.

Oceanwide Expeditions said the two Canadians who disembarked on April 24 were among 30 passengers from 12 countries who got off the boat that day, including the body of a Dutch man who died on April 11, and his symptomatic wife, who died the next day.

The operator said a third death took place May 2 after a woman on the ship developed symptoms April 28.

Earlier on Thursday, Ontario Health Minister Sylvia Jones said two residents have been isolating since they returned home and it is believed that they are not a transmission risk.

“But it is fluid and we’ll continue to have those monitoring situations,” Jones said at a press conference.

Jones said public health officials are monitoring the passengers on a daily basis to make sure that the they are isolating.

She said the province is preparing to see if there are any other individuals who need to return to Canada and Ontario, and that they are working with federal partners to make sure there is a consistent approach.

She said the incubation and monitoring period will likely be around 30 days.

In previous outbreaks of Andes virus, transmission between people has been associated with close and prolonged contact, particularly among household members, intimate partners, and people providing medical care, WHO’s director-general said.

“That appears to be the case in the current situation,” he said. “While this is a serious incident, WHO assesses the public health risk as low.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 7, 2026.

-With files from Dylan Robertson in Ottawa

Hannah Alberga and Allison Jones, The Canadian Press